SRGC/AGS Northumberland (Hexham) Show 2nd April 2016

[Stan da Prato]

Lawrence with his booty!
(Attachment Link)    

..............surely some mistake- this is  clearly a front view of the estimable Lawrence.

[Lawrence]

"Ebullient" and " estimable "!   Stan, you are very kind, I think the drinks are on me after such fine words.

[Dave M]

Lawrence will be on the lookout for a sustantial trophy cabinet at the auction house, his current one must be straining under the weight!

[Graeme]

thanks for posting the photos Stan - much appreciated

[veteran vet]

A miserable wet day here in Northumberland so time to process pictures from the show, I see it has already been well covered thanks to Stan but me being me will just post what I have so there is bound to be repetition. Although the weather could have been kinder on the day there seemed plenty of folk through the door and, for me, the parking did not seem to much of a problem while throughout the day whenever I went outside there were always spaces available for people who wanted to visit the show for an hour or two. It is possible that this was the last Hexham show and new venues are being looked at but if we want folk through the door we have to find/use venues such as these where Jo Public can just pop in, browse/buy and leave on the spur of the moment....time will tell
Start with the Forrest Medal winner from Mark Childerhouse in Class 16
Saxifraga 'Coolock Gem', I was told it was at least 18 years old, di9d not realise the Coolock clan had been around so long. Mark also had a very nice
Saxifraga x georgei (70), not the easiest to grow 
As Stan has already mentioned he and I were the entries in Class 1, the so called Big Six so I show pictures of both, Stan's entry first taken to show some of the Open bench as well then my entry which was made up from Sax. 'Coolock Gem', Sebaea thomasii, Trillium rivale, Saxifraga grisebachii, Primula 'Broadwell Milkmaid'
Saxifraga 'Frank Sinatra' was the lovely saxifrage in Stan's entry

[veteran vet]

Tommy Anderson shared the Most Points in the Open Section with Don Peace so I will show several of Tommy's exhibits
Class 2 Three Pan

[veteran vet]

More from Tommy Anderson
The Small Six, class 50, two plants from it were
Saxifraga 'Allendale Harvest' and
Cyclamen persicum. Tommy also had a few 'new' (at least to me) Saxifrages on show, one being 'Allendale Harvest' above
Saxifraga 'Allendale Enchanter' was another
Class 3, three pans primulaceae was won by Frank and Barbara Hoyle with P. 'Mrs Dyas', P.'Marjorie Wooster and P. 'Pink Aire'. I took the picture without the flash as it was the only way I could get over some idea of the true colour of the flowers

[veteran vet]

Sue Simpson had a very nice
Pulsatilla vernalis (15) and I caught her chatting up Ian of the Christie kind although I think from now on I will have to call him Ian of the too much Curry kind till he gets his shape back!!!. There a couple of other pulsatilla that were on display
Pulsatilla vulgaris (28) from Cyril Lafong and
Pulsatilla styriaca from Lionel Clarkson (105) which I did like the look of, he also had
Primula petiolaris 'Sherrifs Form', again a plant that looks filled with potential

[veteran vet]

As already posted Stan da Prato won the award for the best pan of Ericaceae with
Rhododendron 'Lucy Lou' (32). There was another nice Rhododendron in class 92 from Elizabeth Dodds
Rhododendron 'Oban'
Rhododendron 'Snow Lady' (122) from Janet Fielden, my one at home is flowering nicely this year, means we have not had a frost
Phylliopsis halleri 'Sprite' (32) from Trevor Harding was a nice exhibit, Trevor also had
Cassiope lycopodiodes 'Jim Lever' on the bench in (92)

[veteran vet]

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh had a floriferous display at one end of the show hall, the display was awarded a Gold Medal, the plant that attracted me most from the display was
Fritillaria crassifolia ssp. poluninii, was probably the smallest plant in the display.
Other fritillaria at the show were
Fritillaria crassifolia x from Don Peace (22)
Fritillaria davisii (78) Fred & Pat Bundy, one of those plants not easy to get a good picture of.
Narcissus bulbocodium (80) from David Millward

[veteran vet]

The Joint Rock Garden Plant Committee met at Hexham and awarded quite a few PC's, among which were
Primula petelotii (56) Don Peace
Tecophilaea cyanocrocus 'Storm Cloud (25) Cyril Lafong
Caltha polypetala x leptosepala  from Graeme Butler
Asarum maculate (87) from Alan Newton
My Viola douglasii also made a PC, quite how it got there not sure as I did not take it up

[veteran vet]

Iris bucharica (26) from Barry Winter was in even better form than the previous week so worth another picture
Pleione Hekla gx (19) from Don Peace.
A plant I would have to be careful with who I told its name to or if I had had a drink or two was
Hepatica japonica 'Fukuiyu' (82) from Bob Worsley, I thought it was a nice plant just the same
Erythronium citrinum (84) from Anne Wright
Crocus veluchensis 'Giant White' (21) from myself, looked better on Sunday and had a couple of flowers gone by today

[veteran vet]

Primula elatior from Mike Dale (27), a nice fresh exhibit
Primula clusiana Murray Lyon (57) from Alan Furness, he also had
Lewisia brachycalyx in a seed class (105)
Ian Kidman has not shown much this year but he returned to form with
Dionysia viscidula x freitagii (64) while
Dionysia 'Golden Yellow' (162) was a good plant David Morris who had the most points in the Novice section

[veteran vet]

The aforementioned Lawrence Peet, as can be seen from his post, had a good day
Paraquilegia anemonoides (136) was a good example of his plants that earned him the most points in the Intermediate section.
I had better not forget
Hepatica 'Millstream Merlin' (114) from Christine Boulby after our references to David Boyd last week, he would have been very pleased with this pan
Primula 'Stradbrook Gem' (5), again from David Millward
Primula 'Tinneys Moonlight' (132) from Alan Oatway
General show scene

[veteran vet]

Narcissus bulbocodium tenuifolius was in class 79 but I did not get the exhibitor
Androsace muscoidea (61) from Peter Hood
Cyclamen repandum (62) Steve Walters who also had
Cyclamen persicum 'Tilebarn Karpathos' in 146, a lovely deep colour